


An Unseasonable Rain

by SquirrelandBlackbird



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 20:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8767369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquirrelandBlackbird/pseuds/SquirrelandBlackbird
Summary: Katniss is unable to hunt, and her memories of the Hunger Games haunt her. She heads into town and ends up near the bakery.





	

An unseasonable rain kept all the game bedded down, and Katniss struggled for something to do because she couldn’t hunt.

It was the fifth day of rain. There were too many painful memories, especially of Rue, pouring into her head at night. The nightmares were bad. To the viewers in the Capital, her life now appeared perfect: a new home, a new lover, a new life; but nothing could be further from the truth. 

She couldn’t explain her dark brown moods. And she didn’t want the capital’s shrink peering into her mind. She just needed to hunt, and it all would be fine. If they would just leave her alone.

The walls the Capital had built for the Victor’s Village closed in on her, threatening to choke her in their sterility. Out of desperation she threw on a jacket and stomped out into the weather. Cold droplets pelted her left cheek, as a wind bit into her exposed neck. 

She headed toward the Merchants instead of the Hob, hoping to be around people, but not be with people. She didn’t like being alone, and during the games Peeta had been there. 

Few people lingered on the streets, and had chosen to remain indoors, rather than brave the rain. Instinctively she navigated toward the bakery. Her feet did this on their own.  

She came up short when Mrs. Mellark appeared in the doorway. Peeta’s mom was in fine form. Even over the rain, Katniss heard the shrill voice of the witch. She put her head down and hurried past.

Just as she rounded the corner she heard Mrs. Mellark say, “Victor my ass? That Everdeen girl’s got more spunk.”

A fire burst into flame inside Katniss’s belly. Maybe it was Mrs. Mellark’s tone; or maybe it was the way Peeta’s mom disregarded her youngest son; whatever it was, it made Katniss furious. 

Why didn’t Mrs. Mellark get her name drawn? How long would it take for her die? The first night? The second day? 

As soon as she thought it, Katniss regretted it, sort of. How could Peeta put up with it?

He survived the Hunger Games. Haymitch was also a victor. The capital would leave you alone. Wouldn’t they? 

She stepped under an overhang and stood out of the rain. After a minute or two, she realized she had been digging her nails into her palms. The released them, allowing the tension to relax.

It was like that, now. Unconsciously, her body did things to compensate for pretty much everything inside her head. 

One night the stew had burned, because she had stood over the sink, looking out the window at the dead grass. She saw Rue lying on the ground. It still brought terrors in the middle of the night.

Primrose walked into the kitchen complaining about the smell. Katniss realized the stew had burned. 

She played dumb with her sister but they both knew the truth. It was this fact, alone, which drove Katniss out of the house. She hated the pitying look on her sister’s face. 

She would volunteer all over again if Prim had been selected. Families take care of one another.

If only the rain would stop, she thought, looking up into the sky. 

A splashing sound caught her attention, and she saw Peeta jump up onto the cement under the overhang. 

Raindrops trickled down his forehead and around his eyes. His skin looked rosy from the bakery, and the white uniform stood out in the dim light.

“Hey,” he said, and she loved how the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

He had a pleasant face, unlike hers. Some in the Capital had said she was beautiful, but it was all an act like Caesar’s. Capital people had the strangest tastes. 

Cinna pointed out how she could use her looks to captivate her fans. Haymitch remarked she had to be nice in order to get sponsors. But that wasn’t beauty. 

She remembered a doe stepping into the meadow. The doe's sleek face and large brown eyes searched for threats. Her ears perked toward any sound. The animal had grace, and it struck Katniss at beautiful. Two fawns appeared, and pranced about. 

Katniss didn’t release her arrow that day. She had watched them in the meadow, peeping in on their pleasant time. She stood there mesmerized by their beauty.

Peeta cleaned dough off his hands, glancing at her, but not saying anything. 

She wondered how the doe felt when others watched her? Did the doe hate a buck’s eyes wandering over her flanks, sniffing at her, and trying to tell if her scent was right?

Katniss remembered the eight point buck. He strode forth like a god from the wood, ever vigilant, and pure male. Gale chided a bit when Katniss’s arrow struck true. He did not have a shot.

She realized how much she missed the woods. The rich earthy loam. The muted browns. The songbirds.

  
A new scent, a homely scent caught her attention. It tugged at her like an elusive perfume, a pleasant memory picked up by the nose. She closed her eyes, and breathed in deep, trying to catch as much as she could of the scent as possible.

Dampness filled the air, but this new scent made her think of home, and not the woods. It soothed her troubled spirit, and she felt her muscles in her neck and shoulders relax. 

Peeta stood next to her, remaining quiet. He had that way about him that she liked. He could be with her and not say a thing. 

  
Some find silence disheartening. Others think it soothing. And the Capital didn't think at all.

What was it about human warmth? While she was alone, the walls felt like they were closing in on her. Now, out in the open, she felt relaxed. It must be the outside.

“Peeta,” Mrs. Mellark shouted. 

Would that woman ever stop? Katniss thought. She turned to Peeta, and he smiled at her again, with that little smile at the corner of his mouth. She couldn’t help looking at his mouth.

“Nice talking with ya,” he said, and threaded his way back to the bakery.

He was like that, she thought. Something about him struck her deep inside, but she couldn’t quite place it. She didn’t understand half of what he did. That was the mystery about guys that girls just didn’t understand. 

It was then she realized the elusive homey smell seemed to have disappeared. Her eyes lingered over the door of the bakery. 

  



End file.
